Five (plus or minus one): The point at which an assemblage of individuals is perceived as a single, unified group

Stocks, E and Lopez-Perez, B. and Oceja, L. and Travis, E (2019) Five (plus or minus one): The point at which an assemblage of individuals is perceived as a single, unified group. Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0022-4545

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Abstract

At what point is an assemblage of individuals perceived as a single, unified group? And how do demographic characteristics of these individuals influence perceptions of groupness? To answer these questions, we conducted four studies in which participants viewed sets of images that varied in the number of individuals depicted, and then identified the number of persons at which the assemblage was perceived to be a single, unified group. Across four studies, we manipulated the gender and race composition of the persons depicted. The results suggest that five (plus or minus one) people constitutes the point at which a collection of persons is perceived less like separate individuals and more like a single, unified group. However, the demographic complexity of the assemblage also influences perceived groupness. The number of individuals required to be perceived as a unified group is larger for diverse, compared to homogeneous, assemblages of individuals.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article submitted for consideration in the Journal of Social Psychology. [copyright Taylor & Francis]; The final version is available online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224545.2019.1610349
Keywords:	Group Perception, Entitativity, Group Processes, Identity.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Belen Lopez-Perez
Date Deposited:	24 Apr 2019 13:19
Last Modified:	13 Dec 2019 14:19
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2819

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